Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter review: Plenty of USB-C power for 3 devices

AppleInsider · August 17, 2023 5:07PM

On Thursday, Nomad released the all-new 130W GaN Power Adapter, equipped with a trio of USB-C ports to power up your iPhone, MacBook Pro, and iPad, quickly and at the same time.

Nomad 130W GaN charger

The just-released charger follows a similar design aesthetic to the brand's growing line of charging peripherals. It has a dark finish, contrary to Apple's stark white adapters.

There's a black front with just the smallest amount of shimmer and dark grey sides that wrap around the back. Simple black Nomad logos are on each side, and the top, fastest USB-C port has a blue mark on the inside.

Nomad uses gallium nitride (GaN) technology in this charger, the successor to the more common silicon-based chargers. It's complex, but in short, GaN technology in chargers is beneficial because it allows higher wattage with less heat, resulting in smaller chargers.

It's plastic, but the inside feels very dense. If you've picked up a cheap charger and noticed that they feel almost hollow, you'll know what we were watching for and hoping to avoid.

Retractable prongs on the Nomad 130W charger

The wall-facing side of the adapter has a standard set of prongs to fit into an outlet, and they collapse, making it better suited for travel.

Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter -- Lots of power at home and away

All USB ports combined, the new Nomad charger can output up to 130W of concurrent power. How much through each outlet will depend on what devices you have connected.

Charging with Nomad's 130W charger

If you have a large device and a small device, the big device will draw up to 100W with 30W for the secondary device. When three are connected, your largest device will take 70W while the other two will each get 30W.

At times, this kind of power math can be confusing and is a common problem in the charging space. What you essentially need to know is that the charger will automatically allocate power as necessary and if you want the most power on a big device, don't connect anything else.

Nomad uses the USB-C PD 3.0 spec on this charger, which has a maximum output of 100W. That's why even though the total is 130W, individual ports get capped at 100W.

In our testing, these limits were borne out, with little variance.

You can power lots of gear with Nomad's new charger

Not many devices use more than 100W, but Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro can. It includes a 140W power brick, allowing fast charging via the bundled USB-C to MagSafe 3 adapter.

Apple's 140W charger uses the USB-C PD 3.1 spec, which has a higher output cap but only has a single output port. It's also larger than Nomad's charger.

Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter -- Should you buy it?

The Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter is a solid choice to add to your kit with very few compromises. Assuming you aren't looking to fast charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro, 130W is a ton of power that can fast charge multiple other devices.

The compact size, thanks to the GaN tech, makes it a great choice to toss in your gear bag for on the road. We charged our MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and powered a multi-charger simultaneously with this single adapter.

Nomad 130W GaN charger box

If you have an older house sporting outlets that have frustratingly-weak hold, the heft of this charger may be too much, but that will always be the case with high-output adapters.

As the speed requirements of our devices continue to grow, chargers that offer more wattage are increasingly necessary -- and Nomad is here to help you out.

Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter -- pros

Compact design

Collapsible prongs

Three Type-C outputs

Up to 130W of power

GaN tech on the inside

Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter -- cons

Weight is too much for old outlets

Individual ports limited to 100W

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Where to buy Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter

You can find the new Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter on the company's website for $110 in carbide grey.

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wood1208 · August 17, 2023 8:25PM

Nomad adapter is decent at 130W, multiple USB-c ports but you can find similar cheaper from UGREEN(140W for under $80), Anker(150W for under $90),etc. and they have legacy USB-A port besides multiple USB-C PD ports.

Blrzz · August 18, 2023 4:26AM

Not to be too boring, but please think about replacing old outlets. It is a very easy DIY project, and Youtube videos will point out any common mistakes to avoid.

An infrared camera would show that these loose outlets generate a lot more heat than ones that are not worn out. At least a 130W power adapter is unlikely to draw enough power to cause a fire. Likewise you might notice in time to prevent your house from burning if high draw appliances like a hairdryer or vacuum cleaner overload the outlet. On the other hand space heaters or air conditioners plugged into an outlet that hardly holds a plug however are extremely dangerous.

speedgarage · August 18, 2023 4:30AM

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out of the power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

jfabula1 · August 18, 2023 2:50PM

speedgarage said:

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out of the power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

Agreed…..Hello extension chords

kurai_kage · August 18, 2023 2:59PM

speedgarage said:

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out of the power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

jfabula1 said:

speedgarage said:

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out of the power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

Agreed…..Hello extension chords

Going to direct you to the post directly above yours. Blrzz has the right of it; if your outlets are too loose for a heavy adapter, you should consider replacing them.

YP101 · August 18, 2023 3:18PM

kurai_kage said:

speedgarage said:

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out of the power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

jfabula1 said:

speedgarage said:

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out of the power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

Agreed…..Hello extension chords

Going to direct you to the post directly above yours. Blrzz has the right of it; if your outlets are too loose for a heavy adapter, you should consider replacing them.

Instead, they can add ground plug as well. most of USA plug has 3 holes. When folding plug pull down 3rd ground plug swing out that should solve any loose end.
Most of manufactures just design to easy production. That's why all the big chargers having same problem.

dewme · August 19, 2023 12:40PM

kurai_kage said:

speedgarage said:

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out of the power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

jfabula1 said:

speedgarage said:

These new GAN chargers all have the same design flaw: they’re too heavy and easily slip out ofthe power socket. There should be a small cord between the brick and the outlet to prevent that from happening.

Agreed…..Hello extension chords

Going to direct you to the post directly above yours. Blrzz has the right of it; if your outlets are too loose for a heavy adapter, you 0 should consider replacing them.

I agree on both points but I still prefer power devices that have a short captive or pluggable power connection for plugging into the mains because of the aforementioned issues and a few other considerations. These include the difficulty plugging the brick into wall sockets behind furniture, the difficulty plugging the brick into shared power strips (e.g., when working with several others in a shared space with too few wall outlets), the difficulty of plugging the brick into dedicated power strips or UPS outlets due to the socket orientation, and finally, having to deal with foreign power sockets and adapters if the brick doesn’t have built-in interchangeable plugs. Using a power brick and a foreign socket adapter, stacking, makes a flimsy situation go from bad to worse. But pretty much anyone who travels has probably done it on more than one occasion.

When working in hotel rooms, conference rooms, and other public spaces you have to deal with what’s available. You can’t change the wall outlets. Bringing a short extension cord along with you can help in some situations. Earlier USB-A charger blocks that attached directly to the wall sockets had the same issues. Newer ones generally moved to a 2-wire connector design like those used on most computer power bricks.

Apple’s power bricks that give you the option of plugging the brick directly into the socket or using a secondary power cord are probably the best design out there in terms of flexibility and accommodation. Plus, they have interchangeable foreign socket adapters to completely avoid the stacking issue.